I was thinking, another one of my plans is to install a carPC that I've been working on (will up pictures later), perhaps I could hook up the two, that would be great! And then save the turbo project for later.

 

You could do a carputer, probably be best to do one with a serial port, maybe that and usb. As long as you have a screen and keyboard with a touchpad it would work well. I picked my bluetooth keyboard with built in touchpad for about 20 bucks.

I once threw around the carputer idea, then I figured it probably wouldnt last with the florida heat, plus I already have a laptop so I just said screw it, lol.

 

im doing that in my car just not a real carputer ,

im using a dell laptop with the screen removed mounted under the seat, and a 8 inch touchscreen mounted in the dash

 

There's no way the 4.8 and 5.3 get worse MPG than a 350.

1. They're smaller engines (Displacement).
2. If they got worse gas mileage GM would have never replaced the 350 with them.
3. Thats 18-19 mpg in a 4000 lb brick. A 3300 lb thirdgen is a whole different story. There's no reason a 300hp 5.3 in an F-body can't get mileage at least as good as an LS1 in one, which is mid 20s highway.

GM wants to sell horsepower, sure, but the only reason they ever came out with these engines, and the only reason they keep updating them, is the neverending war against CAFE standards. If the 350 got better mpg they have done something VERY VERY wrong.

 

6,200 lbs brick....That being said the 5.3 gets worse mileage in real world driving in the Express. The 2003 5.3 Express was rated the EPA rated exactly the same as a 1997 with the 5.7. The 5.3 had to have 3.73 gears to get and keep the heavy brick rolling where the 350 only had 3.42s.

A LT1 can hit mid to high 20s MPG as well on the highway, even better with the T-56 and its .5 OD.

The newer LS engines were cheaper for GM to build and ran cleaner and make power at higher rpm for the horsepower war the manufacturers currently have going. GM Mexico used the 5.7 until the late 2000s in their GMT800 chassis trucks and kept TBI in the older GMT400 chassis until 1998 or 1999.

 

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find....16086&id=29550

So this is comparing a 5.3 to a Vortec 5.7 to a TBI 5.7. Considering the Vortec 5.7 made 255hp, and the 5.3 made 285 or 295, I forget, I think it speaks for itself.

You put any engine in a car that's too heavy and needs shorter gearing to move it and you're going to sacrifice mileage. The fact that it still got the same mileage despite making 30 more hp is pretty impressive if you ask me.

Because they have the tooling and manufacturing facilities running already AND there's no CAFE penalties for selling vehicles with worse gas mileage in Mexico (to my knowledge).

 

Don't be so sure on that. The 5.3's average a real world 13-16mpg, highway. We do fuel consumption tests constantly for customers who think they are not getting advertised fuel economy. The 4.8 is a little better, but not much.

To the OP - It's about SMILES per gallon, NOT MILES per gallon! Get a Chevy Cruze or something economical, put the Camaro in the garage and piece by piece give it the life it deserves...

 

The 350 makes a **** load more torque down low. A 99 5.3 was rated what, 320 ft/lbs @ 4,000 rpm and a L31 had 330 @ 2,800 and something like 90% of peak from 800 rpm!! Something the LS1 CAN'T TOUCH!

 

I just know I had a friend that had a 2003ish Suburban with the 5.3 that had to stop every ~400-450 miles for fuel when we went on a 1,300 mile (Dallas, TX to Fort Lauderdale, FL) each direction road trip. We were loaded up with 7 or 8 people each and all our stuff. My at the time STOCK Express with the same 31 gallon tank was only taking 20-22 gallons for the same distance. I once went ~600 miles on a tank and put 29 gallons in it. We were cruising a steady 70-75 mph on the interstate, sometimes up to 80 mph and he was pissed that he was buying more fuel than me.

 

TPI makes more torque than an LS1. It's still slower. Makes for a great van engine. Terrible racecar engine.

 

Yep....However the guy who started this post wanted an efficient daily driver, not a race car. It is my opinon that the more torque he makes from off-idle to 3,500 the more efficient he will be. FWIW most LS1 engines don't make the power I am getting from my cammed vortec 5.7. Through a 4L80E and 9.5" corporate 14 bolt I am making 300 rwtq @ 1,000 rpm, 330 rwtq @ 3,500, and 330 rwhp @ 5,200. I am making 90% of my peak torque from 1,000 rpm to 5,300+ the torque looks like a table top. About to step up to ETec 170 heads, a set of tri-y headers and a 215/220 @ .050 lingenfelter cam. This is in the G1500 Express fwiw.

With a tight stock torque converter and factory 2.77 gears a TPI is not much if any slower than a LS1

All that torque does great things when you can get to the highest speed limit in the nation in 2nd gear.

 

All these guys who claim they want torque and "just a street car" always end up crying about being beaten by Honda Civics and Kia hatchbacks in a straight race. Torque doesnt win races. Horsepower wins races.

 

Better tell that to my truck that doesn't even have 300 rwhp, yet runs 13s.....TORQUE wins races, HP wins bragging rights.

 

To the OP, do you have a V6 or 305 V8 currently? I don't remember seeing it in any of the posts.

My carbed 84 with a 305 (Before the motor swap) pulled nearly 24mpg doing 70mph on the highway. I used it as a daily driver going 15 miles to work one-way all highway. It ould drop to 19-20 with combined and In town only it got 15-16. Yours should pull at least that much (if you have the 305). The current 350 (5.7L) gets 19mpg (still carbureted) on the highway and has 315hp and 290# of torque.

That said, I do have a friend with an 87 grand National, Turbo V-6 and while I know nothing about it other than it's "damn fast", much faster than my 350, he says he gets about 24-26mpg just cruising down the Highway at 70. So, i would say if you can Turbo a V6, and are already a V6 car, then it may be worth it. If you have the V8, I would recommend porting and polishing the heads, getting some headers, and tuning it. The megasquirt could be a very good idea. It will all depend on your level of mechanical ability and what you want to get into.

 

Also, I know it's kind of far, but there is a guy in London that has a shop called "AUTOPONTIAC", who I would recommend to anyone if they need work on their Camaro or Pontiac. He did the rear-end in my car and helped me re-tune my carb after I "broke" it trying to rebuild it myself. In fact, if I recall correctly, he actually has an LS1 sitting on his shop floor, full ECM, fuel rails, everything, that he's been trying to sell. I could see what he wants for it if you want.

---Edit----

Sorry, not trying to plug the shop, but just letting you know of a good resource that's close-ish to you if you need. I lived in Germany and England for 8 years combined and it can be hard finding someone who knows anything about American cars, especially our older ones.

 

Yea he has the mpfi 2.8.